Inside Alex de Minaur’s body transformation as Aussie Open hope reaps the rewards of his new physique on the court

Alex de Minaur’s fiancée Katie Boulter can’t get enough of her partner’s new physique after the Australian tennis star has continued to bulk up in recent years – and it’s paying off on the court too.

Earlier this week, the 25-year-old treated his followers to an image of himself with rippling biceps in a sleeveless top, accompanied by the caption ‘Prep done…. Go time now’, featuring fellow Aussie stars Alexi Popyrin and Matt Ebden gave him a thumbs up.

However, Boulter was having none of it, writing: “Stop trying to quench your thirst, you have a fiancée,” referring to the slang for a social media post aimed at making people attracted to them.

And it’s not just Boulter who has noticed the Australian’s ripped body.

Fans of this year’s Australian Open have posted about the increase in muscle on De Minaur’s frame.

Last year, the world number 8 revealed that he had added around seven kilos of muscle mass to his body in three years.

The Australian’s strength and conditioning program is also paying off on the pitch

‘Every year is different. You look at the year as a whole. What you want to work on, what you want to improve,” de Minaur said.

“This year we’re trying to get bigger, put on some more muscle… to get more power and more speed on my serve and groundstrokes, all these things. It’s all combined. I don’t diversify my training in any way. I do everything every day.

‘At the start of the preparation I spent 2.5 to three hours in the gym, then two hours on the pitch. Essentially, depending on the day, you can double up on some sessions.

‘Normally in week one or week two you do a lot more training and you basically get to the point where you don’t want to wake up in the morning because you don’t want to deal with what’s in front of you. ‘

De Minaur’s dedication to increasing his strength is now paying off on the pitch, with statistics showing his serving has improved significantly.

At the 2018 Australian Open, he averaged 167 km/h on his first serve and 147 km/h on his second.

During the recent United Cup, De Minaur averaged 204 km/h on his first serve and 167 km/h on his second.

The added muscle also helps him with his basic strokes, with De Minaur explaining that he can now hold his own with some of the best players on clay.

De Minaur (right) is pictured in 2016, when he was still filling out his frame

The world number 8 (pictured in 2018) says he is no longer bullied by his opponents on the pitch as he has added strength to his game

‘Physically I have gained a lot of muscle mass, a lot of strength. “Because my tennis itself and my basic strokes are probably not best suited to clay, I don’t play with too many revolutions on the ball, that’s where the power comes in,” he told reporters at the 2024 French Open.

‘It allows me to maintain a pretty strong average rally ball, allowing me to hurt my opponents and not get pushed over. I think in the past when I was a little lighter, I definitely felt like the bigger, stronger guys could really push me around and bully me on the field.”

Tennis great Mats Wilander is very impressed by the Australian’s transformation

“He’s incredible,” he told the press in 2024.

‘He’s actually stronger too. You can see it in his legs. His legs get stronger every time I see him.

‘You talk about who gets the most out of his game and you have to say that Alex de Minaur gets the most out of his game.

‘I still think there is more because he is so fast and if he learns to be fast at the right time with the right ball [he can be even better].’

De Minaur had an ideal start to his Australian Open campaign on Tuesday evening with a victory over Botic van de Zandschulp in straight sets.

Should the 25-year-old reach the Open quarter-finals for the first time after falling in the fourth round on the last three visits, he is likely to face world No. 1 and defending champion Jannik Sinner.